Dry tooling involves climbing rock with climbing axes to traverse areas without ice or snow. It has its origins in traditional climbing, but it has developed into a relatively new and exciting kind of sport. The range of techniques created as well as the necessary skill required allowed dry-tooling to become a sport of its own, rather than a mere extension of other types of climbing.
Specific types of dry tooling axes have been developed so that the tips of the axe picks stay in the smallest of holds. The tip of the pick does most of the load bearing. The axe must be placed in the same direction as the load and the climber must maintain the same direction of loading on the shaft during the movement.
Many dry tool climbers, as well as ice climbers, use artificial climbing walls to improve techniques. However, generally artificial climbing walls are designed to simulate rock climbing and are not designed for use with any type of axe, particularly those used in other types of climbing.
While conventional tools may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present disclosure as disclosed hereafter.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.